Former Orioles prospect who every Guardians fan wanted just unexpectedly hit free agency

Take yourself back to 2022. The Guardians were turning into a contender, Travis Bazzana was finishing up his freshman season at Oregon State and Orioles prospect Heston Kjerstad’s name was seemingly on the lips of every Guardians fans. 

While Kjerstad, then the No. 6 prospect in the Orioles system, per MLB Pipeline, had yet to make his MLB debut, he kept drawing interest from numerous baseball fans in Northeast Ohio due to his huge power potential. It seemed like there wasn’t a day that went by where someone wasn’t building some kind of hypothetical trade that sent Kjerstad to Cleveland. 

Needless to say, a lot has changed since then. 

On Monday, Kjerstad officially became a MLB free agent after the Orioles granted him his release after he cleared waivers. It may not be the end of Kjerstad’s big league career, but it’s an unceremonious end to his tenure in Baltimore. 

Former Guardians trade target Heston Kjerstad is a free agent

Kjerstad becoming a free agent is a pretty significant fall from grace for a player who was once viewed as a consensus top-40 prospect in baseball along with being a part of the Orioles’ next core. But that prospect hype never seemed to pan out, as he slashed just .217/.280/.359 across 117 big league games thanks to a heavy of injuries. 

The No. 2 pick in the 2020 draft, Kjerstad didn’t make his organizational debut for the Orioles until 2022 due to myocarditis, which also delayed his big league debut until 2023. He also missed spring training in 2025 due to an unspecified injury, and also missed all of April this season due to a hamstring strain.

He spent almost the entire 2026 season at Triple-A, where he slashed .289/.337/.462, and has an .834 OPS in 238 career games at Triple-A.

Kjerstad may still hold that top prospect pedigree, but he still may go unclaimed on waivers thanks to the fact he’s all out of options and is coming off a pretty middling season. That fall off may hurt Kjerstad’s big league aspirations, but it could set the Guardians up for a golden opportunity to bring Kjerstad in on a minor league contract as some outfield depth for 2027.

The Guardians outfield is pretty set with Chase DeLauter, Steven Kwan, Jo Adell, Petey Halpin and Angel Martínez, but Kjerstad would be great insurance if the Guardians elect to trade Kwan or Adell/if someone gets injured. Plus a minor league contract means the Guardians wouldn't be relying on him for a huge role if/when he would get hurt.

While the Guardians have made a killing in recent years by turning unheralded or overlooked pitchers into impact starters or relievers, signing Kjerstad could help them carry that trend over to their lineup. 

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